AGD CapitolConnections

Tobacco Companies to Run Ads Outlining Dangers of Smoking

by
AGD Washington Advocacy Representative

Nov 30, 2017

Starting Nov. 26, 2017, major U.S. tobacco companies will run court-ordered newspaper and television advertisements that detail the consequences of smoking and secondhand smoke, as well as the companies’ decision to make the products more addictive.

The TV ads will run five times per week for one year, mostly on ABC, CBS and NBC in primetime but also on other heavily viewed networks or during popular programs. The newspaper ads will appear in the Sunday edition of 50-plus newspapers, including the Washington Post and the New York Times, beginning this month.

The ads are the culmination of a long-running lawsuit the U.S. Department of Justice filed against the tobacco companies in 1999. A federal court in 2006 ordered the tobacco companies to make these “corrective statements” after finding that they had violated civil racketeering laws (RICO) and engaged in a decades-long plan to minimize the health effects of smoking and how they marketed to children.

Impact on General Dentistry: The text of the corrective statements and additional details on where the ads will be run is available here.